Blogs You Should Know: Immaculate Infatuation

The greatest thing about the guys behind Immaculate Infatuation is that restaurant reviewing is not their day job. "We don’t dine at Per Se on the regular," says Andrew Steinthal, one of its co-founders (above left). He and partner Chris Stang are among the other 99% who go to restaurants to have fun. Music ecs by day, they spend free time on the search for food without bullshit, pretense, or bad music. It’s earned them the reputation as the most dude-friendly restaurant blog in New York. We sat down with them at Buvette in the West Village, their current breakfast spot, to talk about their new app, the best restaurant outside of New York, and how the word "foodie" is permanently banned from these bros’ bro-code.

GQ: How did you meet?

Chris: We both worked at the college radio stations at our universities and went to the CMJ music conference in New York. We met on the set of TRL, when Carson Daly was really cool. It was a long time ago.

GQ: Did you ever think you’d end up blogging about restaurants together?

Andrew: No, we both moved to the city to work in the music business. When we we’re just starting out, we’d hang out and plot about all the things we were going to do take over the world together...

GQ: ...And you thought, food blog?

Andrew: Well, first there was the record label. The clothing label. That was a good one.

Chris: Let’s be clear, it was not a clothing label, it was more like "Let’s print stuff on t-shirts and try to sell them."

Andrew: But if we had done it, it was way before all those other t-shirts companies like BustedTees did it...

Chris: Let’s not act like we’re visionaries.

GQ: So how did Immaculate Infatuation get started?

Chris: "For work, we were always taking artists out and our friends would call us to get recommendations, My mom’s in town, where am I going? or I have a first date. Where do I go?We thought we were pretty good at picking the right place for the right time."

GQ: Most people find it hard to stick with a blog for over two years when they have full-time jobs.

Chris: It’s definitely a passion project and we find time. We kept going because of the response. It’s motivating when you’re getting e-mails from people in different cities asking you for recommendations.

GQ: What made you decide to add an app?

Andrew: Trying to figure out where to go when you’re out is always complicated. You pull up the Yelp! app and they cover everything. Every restaurant in the world is poppin’ up. We wanted to create a more targeted list, with just the important places, so Joe Bob’s bagel place, which is probably right next door and probably terrible, doesn’t come up, too.

GQ: What advice can you give us for when it comes to entertaining people at restaurants?

Andrew: People are always impressed when you can lead the ship and pick a good spot. Of course, you gotta know what you’re getting into. Don’t go to a place you’ve never been before with someone you’re trying to impress, like a first-date.

Chris: In general, it’s good to have a couple of go-to restaurants with great service in your back pocket even if you don’t consider yourself someone who is... recreationally into food... We don’t like the word "foodie."

GQ: What’s wrong with the word "foodie?"

Andrew: Worst word ever. It’s like, You like food? Sweet.

Chris: ...By the way so does everyone on the planet. Do you need really need a nickname for yourself?

GQ: What did you think of Sam Sifton’s lastNew York Times restaurant review? He named Per Se as the best restaurant in New York.

Chris: Well for a guy like Sifton, who prided himself on reviewing spots that hadn’t been reviewed yet, or places that were off-the-beat path or that deserved a kind of longtime reassessment, it was interesting that he chose that for his last meal.

Andrew: But it’s the best restaurant in New York...

Chris: Yeah, but for someone who was trying to be a little bit different, it was sort of going out with what you’d expect a New York Times columnist to go out with. But you know, good for him. And good for Thomas Keller. We’re not really the white-table cloth types of guys.

GQ: What about the best restaurant outside of New York?

Andrew: I think we both agree on this...

Chris:Cochon in New Orleans. [High-fives around the table] We actually couldn’t get a reservation when we were down there, so we changed our flight to leave a day later just so we could go. The wood-fired oysters are mind-blowing.

GQ: You guys both have a strong passion for your work in music. How important is music to you at a restaurant?

Chris: "Well it will definitely make my night better if I’m sitting at a table and some A Tribe Called Quest Comes On."

GQ: Tell me about this place.

Chris: Honestly, Buvette has only been open a few months but it’s become the breakfast meeting spot for us and I live on the opposite side of town. They have this cranberry-walnut bread that comes with honey butter and bee-pollen on it. I don’t know what it is with bee-pollen but it does something incredible to it. And their scrambled eggs, they steam them on the espresso machine. They’re open for dinner and late-night but there’s something about it during the day. I could live here.

GQ: What else is exciting you right now? Where are you headed next?

Andrew: We’ve be in Brooklyn a lot. Williamsburg is crazy, it’s the new East Village. There’s more new and exciting stuff happening there than in Manhattan.

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